Pilgrims do the farewell circumambulation (tawaf al-wida) of the Kaaba
on Thursday in Makkah as the final ritual of the Haj.

By BADEA ABU AL-NAJA | ARAB NEWS

Published: Jun 17, 2011 00:16 Updated: Jun 17, 2011 00:49

MAKKAH: Three Saudi engineers attending the Haj Research Forum in Makkah have called for expanding the mataf, the area surrounding the Holy Kaaba, in order to accommodate more worshippers.

Abdul Haleem Khouj, head of the team that made the proposal, said it would help the mataf accommodate 128,000 worshippers per hour, increasing its capacity by 160 percent.

Abdul Wahab Alawi and Amjad Maghrabi, the other two engineers who contributed to the plan, said it would enhance the visibility of the Holy Kaaba for people sitting inside the mosque.

The plan also envisions special facilities for the handicapped to perform Haj and Umrah with ease, Khouj said, adding that they came up with the proposal after Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah called for a study on expanding the mataf. Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior Prince Naif, who is chairman of the Supreme Haj Council, opened on Tuesday the forum organized by the Haj Research Forum at Umm Al-Qura University.

Addressing the forum on Thursday, Walid Abul Faraj, vice president of King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy, said ongoing development projects in Makkah would bring about tremendous improvement in Haj services.

He noted the government’s efforts to help pilgrims perform their religious duties without difficulty.

Abul Faraj, former president of Umm Al-Qura, commended the institute’s efforts to promote Haj and Umrah services by conducting scientific studies.

Plans are afoot to widen the mataf, or the circumambulation area around
the Holy Kaaba, to accommodate more pilgrims.

By ARAB NEWS

Published: Aug 3, 2011 00:02 Updated: Aug 3, 2011 00:33

JEDDAH: A comprehensive study has been prepared for the expansion of the mataf (the circumambulation area around the Holy Kaaba) to reduce congestion.

Col. Yahya Al-Zahrani, commander of the security force at the Grand Mosque in Makkah told Al-Watan Arabic daily that the mataf expansion would be carried out on the first floor of the Grand Mosque and its terrace in order to reduce crowding on the ground floor.

“We don’t know exactly how many worshippers can be accommodated on the ground floor of the mataf,” he said.

He pointed out that measures would be taken to avoid crowding in the area by stopping those not wearing ihram from entering the area.

Speaking on the issue of worshippers reserving space inside the Grand Mosque for prayer, especially in the front rows, Al-Zahrani said Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal had set up a committee to end this negative phenomenon and punish those practicing it. Reserving place inside the mosque for taraweeh and qiyamullail prayers has become a common practice for the past several years.

“The committee started work on the first night of Ramadan,” he said, adding that 2,800 additional police officers and 25 special security officers have been deployed to beef up his force.

He emphasized the role of the operation room at the mosque in identifying crowding of worshippers in different spots and taking necessary action to disperse them. “The operation room monitors movement of worshippers in every part of the mosque.”

Referring to the problems caused by the entry of wheelchairs into the mataf, the officer said: “We have prevented entry of those vehicles into the mataf from Asr to the end of taraweeh prayers but some wheelchair-ridden pilgrims still insist on taking them in, causing harm to others.”

Al-Zahrani said security officers inside and outside the Haram have been instructed to deal with worshippers in a pleasant manner.

“Every Monday we give them lectures on how to deal with pilgrims and how to help them. Our officers have responded positively to these instructions,” he said.

“There are some pilgrims who do not cooperate with security officers and insist on violating the regulations. Some of them even attack security officers,” he added. He also pointed that complaints against security officers have reduced considerably.

JEDDAH: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah was given a presentation on the new project to expand the mataf (the circumambulation areas around the Holy Kaaba).

The project, which will be completed in three years, will enable 130,000 pilgrims to perform tawaf (circumambulation) at a time.

Higher Education Minister Khaled Al-Anqari presented the project to the king during a reception at Al-Safa Palace in Makkah on Sunday in presence of Bakri Assas, president Umm Al-Qura University in Makkah, and a team of engineers who designed the project.

Also on Sunday, King Abdullah received the annual report of King Abdul Aziz National Dialogue Center and emphasized the importance of dialogue. "It is the best means to achieve unity and cohesion among members of the Saudi society," the king said.

King Abdullah said the dialogue should be conducted following its rules and principles. "Differences will be there. It's the nature of human beings. If we conduct any dialogue without following its principles it would lead to chaos and confusion," the king pointed out.

He expressed his confidence in the unity of Saudi people. "Our country is strong because of the faith of its people in the Almighty, the national unity and the strong bond between its people," he said.

He commended the role played by the dialogue center in promoting the values of moderation and tolerance among the Saudi people. He urged the public and private sectors to cooperate with the center to promote a culture of dialogue and respecting the views of others.

Meanwhile, King Abdullah met with Iraqi Vice President Tariq Al-Hashmi and Parliament Speaker Osama Al-Nujaifi. He also met with Haj Minister Fouad Al-Farsy and heads of Tawafa organizations. Al-Farsy praised the king for implementing the largest expansion of the Grand Mosque in history at a total cost of SR80 billion.

This is my drawing showing what the mataf expansion will look like. This RENDER is based on local newspaper articles and models viewed on the foundation stone ceremony of King Abdullah Gate of Masjid-al-Haraam on 20th Ramadhan-1432.

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah was given a presentation on the new project to expand the mataf (the circumambulation areas around the Holy Kaaba).
The project, which will be completed in three years, will enable 130,000 pilgrims to perform tawaf (circumambulation) at a time.

Higher Education Minister Khaled Al-Anqari presented the project to the king during a reception at Al-Safa Palace in Makkah on Sunday in presence of Bakri Assas, president Umm Al-Qura University in Makkah, and a team of engineers who designed the project.

The proposed design is ineffective and useless for the following reasons:OBJECTION#1:
The suggestion that a path be made behind the ottoman structure is useless because the propsed space is already used on first floor and the roof. The suggested path is TOO LONG AND TIRING. Even if such a path is made, it won't be used, because the priorities of the piligrims and locals are to see the Kaabah, touch the kaabah and touch the black stone.OBJECTION#2:
The proposed design will DISTORT the shape and beauty of the Haram building.

In my opinion the internal courtyard should be transformed into a circular shape, and to use the space between the circular boundary and the original boundary of the courtyard for TAWAF ONLY!. A basement and a 2nd floor should be added to the circular mataf. This design will be NEARER TO KAABAH, the path will be SHORTER, and the design WILL NOT DISTORT THE HARAM BUILDING.
هذا التصميم غير فعال وغير نافع للأسباب التالية:

If they are expanding it with levels, they should make a spiral with seven levels so people enter at the bottom level, perform first circle on ground floor, then ascend with each circum-ambulation upwards in spiral, then exit at the top after seven rounds. That will make it even more streamlined. Also, then they can have a large designated area at the top floor behind Maqaame-Ebrahim for post-tawaf prayer.

Also have minimum of columns both on inside and outside so there are un-inhibited views of the Ka'bah and the facade looks minimalistically elegant.

Not a bad idea
You're good at making renders, can you make one for the "seven-spiral" proposal?
They should've included me, you and alrayyan in the mataf research
Eid mubarak to you too
or if you know urdu: خير مبارك

Quote:

Originally Posted by Makkawi.Pk

The Problem with the Mataf is really not the space, as you can see below, there is a lot of space which STILL can easily accommodate millions of worshippers. The real problems, in my opinion, are the following:1-Marking the mataf:
There is no boundary of mataf, you can perform tawaf anywhere in the Masjid. Due to this, there are always people praying in the middle of the mataf, disturbing the people performing tawaf. If the whole courtyard could be made availaible for tawaf ONLY, it would be great. Or at least, they should mark a boundary beyond which the praying people should not be allowed to pass in normal times. (i. e. any time except prayer times).2-The lack of discipline:
My father once told me, that a german architect designing the new jamarat bridge asked the authorities this question: "Muslims stand as one while praying, they follow the imam strictly. So why don't they show the same discipline during hajj?" The same problem applies to Tawaf, which I believe is pretty much the same as young saudi drivers.
People are always in a hurry for no reason at all, they don't walk in a single lane/line alway 'overtaking' the other people, causing "jams" and annoying pushes. Some people rudely push the others out of the way just to 'overtake'. I don't think there's a solution for this problem, but they should've discussed it while doing 'mataf research' because, I think, this is one of the major problems regarding tawaf.3-The annoying Iranian and Turkish groups:
Everyone who has performed tawaf once should know this. I don't think I need to explain. These groups come in the mataf hand-in-hands, they enter the tawaf at any point (you're supposed to enter at the 'al-hajr-ul-aswad' corner), they literally bisect their way to the walls of Kaa'ba, (they really don't care if you are smashed under their feet) and recite "dhikr" collectively and really loud, and after finishing tawaf, they go out the sam way they came in. So, not only they disturb your tawaf, they also explode your head. GROUPPING IN TAWAF SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED. Sometimes you just have to be strict.

To sum it up, I think the mataf problem should be handled completely like a traffic problem.
Some of you might find my analysis funny, but thats how I see it.

The only engineering problem with the mataf is that it should be round

Making it circular and higher makes it look like an arena. I think the openness it now has should be appreciated.

If i analyze this picture, I see a couple of things.

- As you can see in the pictures the crowd is already lining up to the smaller diameter of the rectangle of the court. Outside there is free space.

- Making it circular makes it smaller because it needs to be build inside the Ottoman colonnade.

- the previous means that the new mataf area will be completely filled up with people.

- People have now the space to distract from the crowd in that leftover free space. They can look around orientate and have a rest before they decide where to leave or where to enter the mataf.

- It is not that the circular court will guide the flow, because it is not a constant circular movement. People are going inwards and outwards.

- A circular colonnade is even preventing the in- and outflow since there is no open space anymore. The ingoing people push the outgoing people back and so it creates a trap, that becomes more and more crowded.

So a circle may be symbolically attractive, but not more than that. The open space it now has, really has it advantages. (unless you enjoy claustrophobia). Even the square proposals from the pictures make it a lot smaller and will diminish the free open space.